No Limits (17 page)

“It's only fitting that this facility be named after the man who was a surrogate father to our top astronaut trainee. The man who has been focused on leading the Cronus missions since I first met him at training camp. I'm pleased to announce that Ace McCoy will be the commander and leader of our first mission.”

There were whoops from Jason's astronaut friends and everyone stood up and applauded. Molly smiled to herself. She was happy for him. She thought she'd have to fake it, but there was no need. She finally understood what it was like to love someone so much that seeing them happy was enough. Jason would go on his missions and have his life and the stars. And she would watch from the ground, loving him, missing him and hoping he would come back to her one day.

She couldn't be the reason he stayed and she was pretty sure that she would be if he asked her to marry him. She'd never had to make such a difficult choice in her life, and only by walking out of the ballroom now would she be able to do it.

18

D
ENNIS
HAD
OFFERED
him the job before he'd made the announcement on stage and Ace had
hesitated but only for a moment. He had thought that staying on the ranch with
Molly would be enough, but he realized now that he couldn't say no. If he did
he'd regret it for the rest of his life and Molly and he both deserved better.
He vowed he'd make things right with Molly after the announcement.

He went out on the stage and waved to the audience. When he
looked at their table, he noticed Molly's seat was empty. Rina pointed toward
the door, and he saw a flash of Molly's dress as she stepped out. He gave Dennis
a quick wave and hopped off the stage to follow her.

He was too far behind to see where she went. He checked their
suite and found it empty. For a moment he wondered if she'd headed back to the
Bar T, but then he spotted her car keys on the dresser. She was still in the
hotel.

He had one more idea and followed his hunch up to the top-floor
bar that offered a stunning view of the Houston skyline. He found Molly sitting
at one of the tables that overlooked the city. But she wasn't looking at the
skyline. She stared at the stars above.

“Mind if I join you?” he asked, coming over to her table.

She turned to look at him, a sad smile on her face. “Not at
all.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I thought I was ready for it. Dennis called for you earlier
today and said that he had good news for you about your medical review. I put
the rest together for myself when you tried to propose to me before he could
name you as the first commander.”

“That's not why I chose that moment to propose—”

“It was. Let's not lie to each other, okay?” she said. “I would
have said yes and you would have... What would you have done? I know some of the
other astronauts are married, but I think it's always been different for
you.”

The honesty in her tone hurt him a little. She expected him to
walk away from her easily, but he wasn't too sure he could do that. Nothing was
easy about this. He wanted the missions and Molly.

“It used to be,” he said. “But mainly because I hadn't taken
the time to meet anyone who made me...better. You expanded my horizons. Most of
my life I've been playing at being an adult, Molly. Trying damned hard to make
sure I wasn't the kind of man my ‘sperm donor' dad was. The kind of guy who'd
walk away from his pregnant girlfriend and never look back.”

“You were never going to be that kind of man. You're not made
that way,” she said.

He appreciated her faith in him. She always had believed in
him, especially when he'd doubted himself.

“Regardless, with you I don't have to fake it. You make me the
kind of man I've always wanted to be. I love you.”

“I love you, too. That's why I want you to go back into space
and do these things you've always dreamed of.”

“You love me?”

“Yes. I can't imagine a future without you in it.”

“Can you imagine a future where your husband leads the first
Cronus mission and then comes home, retires and trains others to go on further
missions?” he asked.

It was what he wanted. If he could have everything, it would be
Molly and NASA and Cronus.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked.

“Molly, nothing can compete with you. If you say no, then I'll
tell Dennis to find another commander for that first eighteen-month
mission.”

She put her hand in his. “I'd never say no. I want all of that
for you, for us. I want to be the cowgirl you come back to.”

Jason's heart started beating so loudly he was sure the other
patrons in the bar could hear it. He got down on one knee and pulled the ring
from his pocket.

“Molly Tanner, will you marry me?”

She leaned forward, putting her forehead on his. “Yes, I
will.”

He put the ring on her finger and got to his feet, lifting her
into his arms and kissing her like he would never let her go. And now he knew
he'd never have to.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
HANDLE ME
by Kira Sinclair.

Read on for a sneak preview of
PUSHING THE LIMITS
, the next book in Katherine Garbera's
out-of-this-world
SPACE COWBOYS
miniseries, coming
soon.

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Pushing The Limits

by Katherine Garbera

J
ESSIE
O
DELL
STOOD
in the corner of a beautifully decorated room in a converted barn on the Bar T Ranch, watching the grand-opening party rage on. She'd had enough of talking about her adventures and the famous people she'd met. That part of her life had ended when Alexi had slipped into the ravine on Everest. She'd pushed on, the thin air and her own drive compelling her forward, but she'd known once she got back to base camp the grief would hit her... It never had. She'd become icy inside and out and she'd known that her old life of making adventure films for television was over. She was tired of having every moment of her life played out for the cameras. She was ready for some privacy. This job at the new Cronus training center was a godsend.

“Don't like parties much?” a man asked, coming up on her left.

“Not really,” she admitted. He was hard to see in the shadows. Just the silhouette of a man in a dress uniform. She could tell he had a strong jaw and dark hair, though. And he was taller than she was, which was saying something as she was five feet ten inches and wearing three-inch heels. Her mother had told her to never apologize or cower because of her height, and she never had.

“Me, either,” he said. “I'm Thor, by the way.”

“Jessie. So I'm guessing Thor isn't your given name. You don't look Nordic.”

He laughed and it made her smile. His laugh was full of joy, not rusty, like the way she'd felt inside since Alexi's death.

“Yeah. I guess I should have introduced myself as Hemi. Hemi Barrett. I'm part of the astronaut training crew,” he said, stepping from the shadows and holding out his hand.

“You sound American, but that name is Maori, right?”

“Yeah. On my mom's side. She and my pops met in Hawaii and I was raised in LA.”

His dark brown beard was close cropped and accentuated the fullness of his lips. Suddenly she realized she'd been staring at his mouth for much longer than was acceptable. She felt a spark of instant attraction she'd never experienced before. For her, sexual desire usually stemmed from knowing a man, and grew out of their friendship.

But this was different. He was different, and this was definitely lust.

His eyes were also dark. Orbs of melted chocolate, decadent and sinful. His skin was tanned and there were laugh lines around his eyes, as well as a one-inch scar on his forehead above his left eye. There was a mark around his left eye as well, she saw—a birthmark. The Maori people called those with these marks
nga kanohi ora o ratou ma kua wehe atu
, which meant “the living faces of those who have gone on before us.” Many believed that the wearer had been marked by the gods for greatness.

Her parents' research had kept them in New Zealand for two years when she'd been in her early teens, and Jessie had learned a lot about the Maori.

He arched one eyebrow at her and she realized she must be staring at him, but didn't care. She had grown up in nature. Her first instincts were always driven by the laws of the wild. In the animal kingdom and in life, she'd found she never regretted standing her ground.

His lips curled in a half smile and he took a step closer. She put her hand on his arm. She felt the strength in him under the fabric of his suit jacket and flexed her fingers on it. All the men she'd known were lean from surviving in the wilderness. Not like him—he was muscled, powerful.

His handshake was firm, but not intimidating the way some men's were.

“Jessie Odell.” He said her name with a hint of awe. He must have seen her show or read one of her books.

“Yes.”

“Wow. I used to watch your parents' show when I was a kid,” he said.

Well, thank God for that. She'd rather talk about her childhood than her last ascent on Everest. Jessie was a part of so many people's childhoods because of those shows her parents, marine biologists and deep-sea botanists, had made. They had followed in the spirit of Jacques Cousteau and had brought her along on their yacht as they filmed their adventures.

“I bet you hear that a lot,” he said.

“Some. Other people want to hear what it was like to survive in the Arctic.”

“That's cool,” he said with a wink. “But I've been to space.”

She laughed, and it surprised her. She hadn't expected to. But he was right. She was hiding because she didn't want to talk about herself in a room full of men and women who'd done something extraordinary, as well.

“What's it like?” she asked.

“Well, you can't hide out like this,” he said. “Buy me a drink and we can exchange stories. I want to hear about the time you were in the shark cage off Africa.”

“It's an open bar,” she pointed out.

“Then you have nothing to lose,” he said.

“Okay, let's go.”

They maneuvered through the crowd and she saw her friend Molly Tanner. Molly was dancing with her fiancé, Ace McCoy.

“Ace has it all,” Hemi said.

“Does he?”

“Yeah. He's been named as commander of the first long-term Cronus mission. Molly has agreed to be his wife. He's got this training facility up and running.”

“Do you want that?” she asked.

He shrugged. “That's not really a first-date kind of question.”

“This is a first date?” But she felt a little embarrassed that she'd asked too intimate a question. Usually when she met people they were both on their way to do something daring, where the risks were considerable and there was a high degree of probability that not everyone would make it back alive.

“I'm hoping,” he said with a wink.

That put her at ease a little. He had charm—she'd give him that. With his looks and body he probably didn't have to work too hard to get women to fall for him. “We'll see. I still don't know what kind of story you're offering in exchange for hearing about ten-year-old me and a great white.”

“The time I did a space walk and became untethered...”

“Obviously you made it back,” she said.

“Obviously. But it was pretty dicey for a while. What's your poison?” he asked as they got to the bar.

“I'll have what you're having.”

“Ah, I don't drink,” he said. “I have to stay in top condition. How do you think I'm doing?”

She skimmed her gaze down his body. His shoulders were muscled, broad and strong, tapering down to a lean waist and long legs. She arched one eyebrow. “You look good, but it could be the cut of your clothes.”

He shook his head. “Play your cards right and I might let you see me out of them.”

She rolled her eyes at him. It was an over-the-top comment and he knew it. He ordered two cranberry juices mixed with sparkling water and then led the way to a high bar table a bit farther away from the crowd in the center of the room.

When they got to the table, Hemi handed her one of the glasses. Their fingers brushed and a zing went up her arm, leaving goose bumps in its wake. She tipped her head to the side to study him.

“To new friends and great adventures.” He took a swallow and emptied half his glass.

“New adventures,” she repeated, lifting her glass and taking a sip.

“Why are you at this party?” he asked. “Wait, are you one of the new trainees?”

“No. I prefer to keep my feet on this planet. There are still so many areas I haven't explored,” she said, but she knew it was a pat line, no longer true. She'd lost the spirit for adventure. But this man, tonight, had awakened her sense of fun and excitement. She wasn't too sure it would last, but fun sounded like a nice change of pace.

“Then what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I'm the survival training instructor. I'm here to make sure all of you spacemen and -women know how to survive in any condition.”

“Oh, I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, then.” He grinned, and her pulse sped up as she imagined how much more of him she'd like to see...

Look for
PUSHING THE LIMITS
, coming soon, to read the rest of Hemi and Jessie's story!

Copyright © 2017 by Katherine Garbera